Unveiling the Far Infrared-to-Ultraviolet Optical Properties of Bismuth for Applications in Plasmonics and Nanophotonics

For years bismuth (Bi) has appealed to a broad community of scientists due to its peculiar electronic, optical, and more recently plasmonic and photocatalytic properties, which enable both the understanding of basic science phenomena and the development of a wide range of applications. In spite of this interest, a comprehensive spectral analysis of the dielectric function (ε = ε1 + jε2) of bulk Bi from the far infrared (IR) to the ultraviolet …